A Country Researcher’s Review of Brent Staples’ Black Men in Public Space

A Country Researcher’s Review of Brent Staples’ Black Men in Public Space

This is my review of Brent Staples’ Black Men in Public Space. I am posting this review and analysis as a journal entry on the assignments I particularly enjoyed reading about while taking my Honours English class.

This piece is a harrowing exposé into the experience of Black men in the United States of America; the micro-aggressions, and implicit bias they repeatedly encounter. My first observation while reading Staples’ piece is that it gloomily shows how Black males—boys, teenagers or university students—are perceived as criminals and aggressors in American society. Whereas, those who they encounter are perceived as victims.

Staples further describes how Blackness is seen as intimidating and threatening to people in the United States. For me, this calls to mind instances of “driving while Black.” Where Blackness meets Whiteness, we often see Whiteness clutching handbags, locking car doors, policing Blackness in neighborhoods, following Blackness around in departments stores, and so on.

A Country Researcher’s Review of Brent Staples’ Black Men in Public Space. Does Society See Black Men in America As Criminals?

Staples’ piece also illustrates how Black men, who may find themselves in respectable occupations, are still perceived by society as criminals and thugs. For example, Staples described how police officers misidentified him as a killer (Staples, 1986). Police officers also held Staples at gunpoint irrespective of his status as a reporter (Staples, 1986). A similar incident happened to Dion Rabouin, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. In the video uploaded to YouTube, we see a police officer arresting Rabouin and commanding him to take a seat. He also threatens Rabouin with a charge of obstruction if he did not comply (Rebel HQ, 2023). In 2020, police in riot gear arrested Omar Jimenez, a Black correspondent for CNN, who was covering the protests in Minneapolis. Despite identifying himself as a reporter and complying with their request, Jimenez was taken into police custody (CNN, 2020). To be fair, Minneapolis police also arrested a CNN producer, who happened to be White.

My last observation is Staples’ attempt at enculturation and assimilation. To read that Staples felt he had to “whistle melodies from Beethoven and Vivaldi” (Staples, 1986) to not be perceived as non-threatening is surreal. It cannot be denied that Black Americans often engage in these self-preserving behaviours to provide those in their environment with comfort, so that Blackness can live to see another day.

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References

CNN. Police arrest CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez and crew on live television. 29 May 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftLzQefpBvM. 19 January 2023.

Rebel HQ. AZ Police Detain Law Abiding Black Reporter. 06 January 2023. YouTube. 19 January 2023.

Staples, Brent. Black Men in Public Spaces. 1986. https://harpers.org/archive/1986/12/black-men-and-public-space/ . 19 January 2023.

Black University of Arizona Student Conducting Research in Ireland Speaks Out About Her Persecution

Black University of Arizona Student Conducting Research in Ireland Speaks Out Her About Persecution

To the Esteemed Professors at the University of Arizona:

I am writing this email in hopes of urging you to opt out of the Biden Administration’s constructive dismissal of Black student activists. As educators, you have a responsibility to promote critical thinking and civic engagement among the student population. This means supporting them when they exercise their democratic rights and engage in dialogue on issues that matter to them.

Black University of Arizona Student Conducting Research in Ireland Speaks Out About Her Persecution – Undermining Freedom of Expression

Recently, we have seen an alarming trend of students being punished for engaging in research and political activism. The Biden Administration has introduced a new policy of giving students an unusual and overwhelming amount of work as reprisal for research is dislikes, that could result in students, especially Black students, dropping their courses. This not only undermines their freedom of expression in the U.S. but also perpetuates a culture of fear and aversion towards social change.

As professors, you are in a unique position to protect the students of the University of Arizona from unjust policies and practices. By opting out of Biden Administration’s tactics, you can create a safe and supportive environment for independent research, activism and civic engagement on campuses and abroad.

Together, we can educate and empower students to be active global citizens who are passionate about creating positive change in society.

I urge you to stand with University of Arizona students, and other students around the world, who seek to send a clear message of resistance to any measures that seek to suppress independent research, free speech and activism. Let us demonstrate our commitment to fostering critical thinking and social responsibility by opting out of the Biden Administration’s destructive practices. Together, we can create a stronger, more inclusive, and more vibrant academic community that values intellectual discourse and respectful dissent.

Thank you for considering this urgent matter.

Sincerely,

Quianna Canada

Arrest of Colorado Woman is the Product of Biased Policing in the United States

Arrest of Colorado Woman is the Product of Biased Policing in the United States

Westminster police officers in the State of Colorado arrested Charlene Gibson after she was attacked by a White male, despite the fact he faces the most serious charges of the two.

According to CBS Colorado, Gibson had permission from a Party City employee to park her car in a designated space while her friends loaded the car with birthday balloons. Gibson was approached by a man, who instructed her to move the car so that his wife on a walker could have access to the ramp. When Gibson declined do to so, and did not kowtow to his commands, he punched her in the face repeatedly. As a result, Gibson hit him back in self-defense. Law enforcement officers would soon arrived on scene. When they did, the arrested Gibson despite proof of her only acting in self-defense.

In 2019, a Kansas Black trans woman named Breonna Hill contacted law enforcement after a confrontation with a store clerk. When law enforcement officers arrived on scene, they handcuffed Hiill and kneed on her neck. In the video, the officers can be seen slamming Hill’s head onto the concrete and pulling her hands above her head. In 2020, a Black female cop named Arica Waters reported that a White male colleague had taken advantage of her sexually and found herself on trial for reporting the incident. As can be seen, Black women and trans Black women are vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse at the hands of law enforcement.

Evidence clearly demonstrates when Black Americans attempt to protect themselves against attacks, the criminal system punishes them more harshly than it does Whites. These facts undoubtedly confirm the idea that America has a double standard of justice and treatment as it relates to Black Americans. 

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U.S. Persecution of Black Americans Dominate Global Headlines

U.S. persecution of Black Americans dominate global headlines and we are not even 30 days into the New Year.

The most recent headline is the death of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who the Scorpion Unit stopped and brutally beat earlier this year. On January 10, Nichols succumbed to his injuries. Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Jr., Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean and Preston Hemphill, were among the officers involved in Nichols death.

Days before Nichols’ death, law enforcement officers killed Keenan Anderson, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matters movement.

Both videos depict two men, Nichols and Anderson, who were both visibly frightened of law enforcement officers and fled. In one video, Nichols can be heard screaming for his mom while five officers punched and kicked him repeatedly. In the other video, Anderson can be heard yelling, “You are trying to George Floyd me.”

There is a debate among Americans as to whether these incidents should be considered acts of racism. CCG Bryson, who is known for his Christian conservative rapping, said “Can someone explain, logically, how 5 black officers killing a black man is white supremacy?” To which, Tariq Nasheed responded, it was the “white supremacist power structure that created that police unit that allocated the resources to them, trained them and incentivize them to go out there and terrorize the black community. That’s 100% white supremacy.” To be sure, prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump said on The Daily Show that “the race of the police officer isn’t the determining factor of whether they’re going to commit excessive use of force. But it is the race of the victim. And it’s often Black and brown people who bear the brunt of police brutality.”

It must be emphasized that American law enforcement officers’ harassment and treatment of Black Americans as suspects, through pedestrian and traffic stops, has been thoroughly researched. A recent study found when police use tactics to gain control in encounters with civilians, such as issuing commands in an aggressive way, it fosters fear and make those encounters less predictable (Pickett, Graham & Cullen, 2022). For instance, an officers’ frightening commands may cause an individual to flee the scene, or result in them being hesitant to leave their vehicles even when officers command them to (Pickett, Graham & Cullen, 2022).

U.S. Persecution of Black Americans Dominate Global Headlines. Will the International Community Step In?

In 2016, the IACHR found U.S. law and practices regarding police killings soared to high levels of impunity (Canada, 2022). As a result, the IACHR urged the U.S. to conduct “exhaustive, impartial, independent, effective and prompt investigations.” Although human rights bodies have repeatedly advised the U.S. to bring its domestic law into compliance with international law and standards on use of force practices, the U.S. has failed to comply (Canada, 2022).

As I mentioned last year, in Bullets of Terror: Staring Down the Second Amendment’s Barrel of Death, the Biden Administration’s Executive Order on Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety does not go far enough, nor does it provide for specific criminal legislation for penalties against race-based policing that often results in death for many Black Americans.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination made clear that police are not free to use any amount of force. Indeed, the CERD stated the brutality and excessive or deadly use of force by law enforcement officials against Black and Latinx Americans, including against unarmed individuals, was deeply concerning. It also was concerned at the persistence of the practice of racial profiling by law enforcement officials in the U.S.

Both the End Racial Profiling Act of 2019 (H.R.4339) and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021 (H.R.1280) have not made it pass the House. Moreover, U.S. federal and state legislation that regulates the use of lethal force by law enforcement officials is not in accordance with international law and international standards.

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